Dr. Shuo LiCleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA, Email: lis3@ccf.org
Research Interest
MS is an autoimmune disorder of the central nervous system that involves inflammatory
demyelination and chronic neurodegeneration. In my PhD thesis projects, my research has
focused on investigating the pathogenesis of neuroglial disability in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and
seek to identify neuroprotective therapies. We elucidated that neuronal mitochondrial dysfunction
regulates oligodendrocyte demyelination by decreased N-acetyl aspartate in MS. We further
determined the role of changes in methionine metabolism and histone methylation in
mitochondrial defects in MS. Interestingly, neuronal hemoglobin interacts with mitochondria and
with nuclear proteins, and plays a beneficial role in neuronal energetics.
The type II transmembrane serine protease (TTSP) of the trypsin subfamily are versatile and
functionally important. In my postdoctoral projects, my research interest has extended to include
TTSP essential for metabolic homeostasis and cardiac function. In particular, I am studying a
hepatic serine protease, hepsin, and a cardiac serine protease, corin. Our most recent data
indicated that hepsin regulates liver glucose and lipid metabolism in mice, and may play a role as
a therapeutic target for treatment of obesity and diabetes. In addition, I am studying the regulatory
mechanism for intracellular processing and extracellular expression of corin.